It’s been a while since we’ve done a Top 10 list and all this talk of overcooked green beans has me craving comfort food. No doubt that the best home cooking you’ve ever eaten came from your mother or your grandmother’s table, but where do you go for the next-best thing? The picture is from Leach’s, gone now, like some of the other old favorite spots. Still, I find myself coming across places that serve up a mighty decent meat and three. While you’re here, tell me what you think the difference is between country cooking and soul food–if you think there is a difference, that is.
Top 10 lists
Responses to “Best home cooking”
June 25th, 2008 at 3:21 pm
So many places have a traditional plate lunch that passes as “home cooking,” but the best in this category is the now departed Down South. Wonderful food, huge portions, and you felt like Grandma was lurking somewhere back in the kitchen. Sad that they are gone now.
June 25th, 2008 at 3:22 pm
I had some mighty fine home cooking at Mortimer’s yesterday. I also like The Cupboard, Bryant’s & Barksdale Cafe. I have never eaten there, but take-out from Melanie’s is also very good. As the told Alton Brown when he asked while filming “Feasting On Asphalt,” soul food is home cooking with a lot of love. I think about soul food as being made from scratch, the same way every time, & the method & ingredients passed down from grandma to mom to the kids. Not often written down & sometimes just “until it looks right.” But that could be said of home cooking too. I tasted some slaw from Tom’s BBQ recently & it was so much like my mom’s that it almost made me cry. I never thought much about it when I was eating it growing up. But she’s been gone 14 years & I sure miss it now.
June 25th, 2008 at 3:34 pm
I remember Leach’s - one of my co-workers used to call ahead & “reserve” a peach tart so they wouldn’t be sold out when we got there. You can also get good plate lunches at Dino’s, The Cottage, & some things (but not all) are good at Dixie Cafe & Blue Plate Cafe. Whittington’s is another good place, & also The Little Tea Shop. A friend of mine swears by Dale’s in Southaven too. I miss The Blac-Eyed Pea a lot & also Bill & Jim’s, the old Robilio’s & Buntyn Cafe when it was on Southern. It was never the same on Park or Appling. Can you tell I’m into this topic?!
June 25th, 2008 at 7:39 pm
Lately, I’ve had to go to Nashville. When I am in Nashville, I’ve eaten at Swett’s in the Nashville Farmer’s Market, Sylvan Park on Murphy Road, and Rotier’s on Elliston Place. ALl are great with fresh homemade veggies.
June 26th, 2008 at 6:58 am
My father-in-law, a home cooking junkie, told me just yesterday to try Bryant’s on Summer for lunch. He especially likes the country fried steak. I will definately be going there soon. Is there anything better than a simple Meat & 2? (or 3?)
June 26th, 2008 at 8:34 am
FYI on Bryants - they close at 1:00, and they are a cash only place. I made the mistake of getting there after 1:00 and with no cash.
Let’s not forget Alcenia’s. Not only is the food wonderful, it comes with a hug from the owner. She will forever hold a special place in my heart because she made pickled peaches and sold them at the Farmer’s Market. I paid dearly for those 4 little peaches, and it was worth every penny to see the look on my daddy’s face when I gave them to him. Mom used to make them for him, and we lost her last year. I didn’t inherit the canning gene from Mom, so Alcenia’s was a godsend.
June 26th, 2008 at 8:53 am
The Little Teashop is #1 in my book. Every meal I’ve had there has been fantastic. Ellen’s Soul Food is always wonderful. You can’t beat her pork chops. Patrick’s is consistently really good, also.
I won’t eat at Blue Plate on Poplar because they seem to get a lot of bad inspection ratings. Dixie Cafe’ is off my list after serving me a chicken fried steak covered in “gravy” that looked like cloudy water with little blobs of flour floating in it. The Cupboard, which used to be reliably great now ranges from pretty good to mediocre, with the rare great meal and the occasional vomitous meal.
June 26th, 2008 at 10:25 am
The last time I was in Bryant’s, they had extended their hours to 2:00, so give them another try, Molly.
One item I had at Blue Plate Cafe that I didn’t care for was turkey & dressing. The turkey tasted like it had been boiled.
I have a friend who also doesn’t like The Cupboard, but I have always had good food there. I think timing is a lot of it. If you go for late lunch, sometimes the food isn’t as good. I had an early dinner the last time there & it was all very good. I have also been for breakfast & it was very slow.
I haven’t been to Alcenia’s yet but it’s on my list of places to try. I think The Cottage is better since someone else bought it out several yrs. ago. It had gotten so it was pretty dirty looking but they cleaned it up some.
June 26th, 2008 at 10:55 am
I agree about the Tea Shop. I miss going there now that I am no longer working downtown. Su has the best cornbread ever.
As for the Blue Plate, I only order breakfast there. I have ordered their plate lunches several times and have always been disappointed. However, their pancakes are the best.
June 26th, 2008 at 11:20 am
We have a good home cooking place in Byhalia, MS called The Whistle Stop. Open for breakfast and lunch- 7a-2p, Mon-Sat-located behind the fire station on south side of the railroad tracks.
Don’t be surprised if Ms Sandra or Sissy ask, “Sweet tea?”
We eat there way too often. Stop by if anyone comes this way-just 15 miles south of Collierville.
June 26th, 2008 at 11:26 am
I don’t often go for home-cooking style places these days, but Dixie Cafe is usually where I end up if the urge hits.
(I pine for the Mrs. G’s Deli of yesteryear in Jonesboro, which used to have chicken & dressing on Thursdays that tasted just like my grandmother’s. But they were sold to new ownership a few years ago and the cooking just isn’t up to par.)
June 26th, 2008 at 11:58 am
I like the mac & cheese, turnip greens and green beans at the Barksdale. My friends love the fried chicken on Fridays and Sundays but not being a meateater I can’t say yay or nay. And the chocolate chess pie is AWESOME ( tell ‘em to heat it for ya!)
June 26th, 2008 at 1:21 pm
Home cooking, as we call it in Memphis, is basically simple country cooking, which soul food is but with a couple of differences. Soul food uses more parts of the pig; you may find ham and pork chops at home cooking restaurants, but you won’t find chit’lings or neck bones. And soul food cooks tend to use more black pepper and garlic poweder than home cooking cooks do. I wasn’t raised on this kind of food, but 20 years reviewing restaurants and eating in home cooking and soul food restaurants in Memphis taught me a great deal. Miss Ellen’s is still great.
June 26th, 2008 at 1:55 pm
Fredric,
Is Miss Ellen’s still open? I thought they’d closed down in anticipation for a move to Elvis Presley, and thelast time I passed their “new” location (a month or so ago) they had yet to get it going.
June 26th, 2008 at 5:30 pm
I moved from Memphis 10 years ago but I recalled going to lunch at the Gayhawk restaurant at 685 Danny Thomas Blvd when I worked downtown. On a recent visit, I stopped in and it was as good as ever. The soul food lunch is served buffet style. This particular day there was greens, cornbread dressing, fried catfish, ham hocks, sweet and mashed potatoes, fried and baked chicken, and peach cobbler for dessert. Beverage is also included for less than $10. It was good to be home!
June 27th, 2008 at 9:10 am
Frederic said what I was going to say, only he said it better… soul food is home cooking with more pig.
Seems like everyone’s too shy to say this, but someone needs to point out that the distinction originally was that if the cook is black, it’s soul food, and if the cook is white, it’s home cooking. Country Captain = home cooking. Chitlins with hominy = soul food.
I’ve had bad experiences (read: completely vile inedible food) at both the Blue Plate and the Dixie Cafe. Before it became Schnuck’s, the best (and cheapest!) home cooking was at Seesel’s on Quince. It’s a little low-brow but the Ryan’s Steakhouse still has good home cooking depending on who’s cooking that day - it may be a chain but the cooks are authentic Big Ladies who can cook up a storm. Peach cobbler, mac and cheese, hominy, fried chicken, greens…
June 27th, 2008 at 1:15 pm
a place I had forgotten about — i reviewed it in 2006 — is the improbably named Stein’s Restaurant, a country cooking/soul food place at 2248 South Lauderdale, just south of Mallory on the left. It’s a block north of the gate to the industrial complex where FedEx Ground is. Great fried and baked chicken. Pork chop. Yams that aren’t so sweet they taste like dessert. Service is cafeteria style. i hope it’s still open. 775-9203. Lunch Sunday through Friday.
June 27th, 2008 at 1:55 pm
I do think that Ellen’s is closed, but I can only say for sure that the number for the South Parkway location is disconnected and there’s no new number available through directory assistance. If anyone knows anything more, please share it with us.
And I’m putting Williams St. Grocery and Miss Polly’s in the mix. The former is cafeteria-style and the food was mighty good both times I tried it. A friend went later in the day this week and said it wasn’t as good as it had been when we went before; I think it could be because she was there around 2. And I don’t think you can find better fried chicken than Miss Polly’s.
Also: Cafe Napoleon, although it’s inconsistent (or it used to be; I haven’t been in a while). And if you want chicken livers, The Cottage is the place to go. Anyone know where I can get chicken gizzards besides Pirtle’s?
June 27th, 2008 at 2:41 pm
Just trying to catch up here… Bryant’s is open until 2; I called the other day to check on hours. Other unlikely but often good spots for home cooking are convenience stores. Anyone know of good ones? There’s one right by the paper and I seen the food and smelled it when folks bring it in, but I’ve yet to try it. Years ago there was an old woman who cooked at the Gulf station on S. Third and it was dee-licious.
June 27th, 2008 at 3:05 pm
I just ate at a great place for Meat and two’s in Jackson, TN. Its called Dowdy’s. Its just off I-40 exit 82 (Highland). Exit south and the a quick right at the light on to Carriage House Drive. It is on the right, just a few feet west of Highland.
For anybody that needs to know, the Cajun Cookers of Jackson, TN will have ribs on the buffet this Sunday!
Fredric, Jennifer, whatever happened to that place just east of the Newspaper (just before you get to Southwest Community College) on Beale Street? I believe it was called the Beale Street Sundry.
June 28th, 2008 at 5:44 pm
It’s not a convenience store, but Piggly Wiggly on Madison has a hot bar. They box up what they have left in carryout containers in the refrigerated case across from the bakery area. But you kind of take potluck when you pick something there. It’s not always the same items & sometimes it’s more starch than you would care to eat at one time, such as rice & potato salad. They have also sneaked things in that weren’t labeled & were not what they appeared to be when I got them home, i.e. liver that looked like country fried steak (ick!) A few times I have lucked up & gotten their pot roast or macaroni & beef in tomato sauce that I really liked, or rice w/leftover bacon or salmon patty from breakfast. I never knew people ate salmon patties for breakfast until I saw them there on the food bar & they are really good ones. They also have a few sandwiches & some cold salads, fried chicken, greens, baked beans, chicken pot pie, quiche, & other cooked vegetables in various sizes by weight.
July 1st, 2008 at 3:40 pm
What about West St. Diner in Germantown. Good fried catfish & greens. Also Dale’s in Southaven is good.
July 1st, 2008 at 6:19 pm
I can’t believe that nobody has mentioned Patrick’s. They have a really, really good lunch with great plate lunches/meat and threes.
July 3rd, 2008 at 4:25 pm
A friend & I ate at Abbay’s on Germantown Pkwy. near Costco today & we were surprised at the good quality of their fast food home cooking. You order at the counter & they delivery your tray or carry-out in a matter of minutes. I had fried catfish, sweet potato casserole, blackeyed peas that tasted like they were dried peas cooked from scratch, a cornbread muffin & large sweet tea. My friend had country fried steak, mac & cheese, blackeyed peas, a cornbread muffin & large Diet Coke. I had an offer good for a free lunch from my Citipass coupon book, so the two of us ate for a little over $11, tax included. They also substitute desserts for vegetables & you can get vegetable plates or rolls if you prefer them to cornbread. The sides are in styrofoam cups that hold the heat in & our vegetables were still steamy to the last bite. There was a line at the drive-thru. Check them out at www.abbays.com.
July 8th, 2008 at 7:26 pm
Well, You have certainly gave me some great names for Good Country Cooking! But have to agree re: The Cupboard, before it moved it was good most of the time the last couple of times (and no more) it all tasted like it all came out of a can.Think I’ll run down to Bryants really soon love thier breakfast and forgot about thier lunches.
Also glad to know The Belmont has good nachos! They are really a no no in this town, but sure will try The Bellmont.
Fran
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